In recent years, consumer reproduction devices can reproduce a storage medium storing audio data and still image data, which has been recorded on a personal computer, in addition to a storage medium recorded by a dedicated recording device.
For example, it is possible to record, on a personal computer, audio files such as MP3 files and still image files such as JPEG files in a storage medium such as a CD-R/RW or DVD-R/RW/RAM, and reproduce the audio files and still image files by a reproduction device such as a DVD player.
These reproduction devices typically provide reproduction functions such as repeat, random and program, in addition to normal reproduction, and these functions can be used in reproducing audio data or still image data.
A reproduction device for reproducing audio data and still image data will now be described. FIG. 1 shows an audio and still image reproduction device, wherein 11 denotes a storage medium, 12 a storage medium reading device, 13 a data reproduction device, 14 a control device, and 15 a data storage device. Each solid-line arrow in the figure represents the flow of data, and a dotted-line arrow represents the flow of control.
Next, a conventional program list reproduction method for reproducing audio data and still image data on a reproduction device having such a configuration as described above will now be described.
The storage medium 11 stores audio data and still image data, and the basic information of the audio data and still image data are read out by the storage medium reading device 12 and stored in the audio/still image basic information storage area of the data storage device 15. The basic information include data name, data type, address and size.
The user produces an audio reproduction list by arranging data in the order of reproduction while checking the data name in the basic information, and stores the list in the reproduction list storage area of the data storage device 15. Similarly, a still image reproduction list is produced and stored in the reproduction list storage area of the data storage device 15.
Then, when reproducing audio data in the produced reproduction list, the process reproduces the audio data sequentially starting from the top of the list to the last audio data in the list. When reproducing still image data in the produced reproduction list, the process displays the still image data sequentially starting from the top of the list. Each still image is displayed on the screen over a reproduction duration that is stored in the still image reproduction duration storage area.
In a case where the audio and still image reproduction device reproduces a storage medium where audio and still image data are recorded with the reproduction order being preset, a reproduction list is recorded on a storage medium 21 as shown in FIG. 2. The reproduction list is stored in the reproduction list storage area of the data storage device 15, and the control device 14 performs reproduction control for reproducing the audio data and still image data according to the reproduction list.
FIG. 3 shows an example of a reproduction list, including a list representing the reproduction order of audio data, the display order of still image data, and a list representing the association information between the still image data and the audio data such as the display start timing and display end timing of the still image data.
When the reproduction list shown in FIG. 3 is reproduced on a reproduction device, audio is reproduced in the order specified by the audio reproduction list, and still images are displayed at the start timing that is linked with the audio or by the still image display order, as shown in FIG. 4. Then, the display is terminated based on the end timing that is linked with the audio or based on the reproduction duration stored in the still image reproduction duration storage area.
Such a reproduction method with the reproduction list and the association information includes a playlist-based reproduction method for reproducing still images for DVD-Audio (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
Specifically, FIG. 14 shows an example of a reproduction order where a reproduction list as shown in FIG. 13 is reproduced. In the example shown in FIG. 14, still image data and audio data coexist in the reproduction list shown in FIG. 13, and the still image data and the audio data are reproduced in the specified order with no distinction therebetween.
FIG. 15 shows another example of a reproduction order where a reproduction list as shown in FIG. 13 is reproduced. In the example shown in FIG. 15, displayed still image data is not erased when transitioning from the still image data reproduction to the following audio data reproduction.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2000-333126